Love

Love, generosity, and the various definitions of wealth and poverty are central themes in "The Gift of the Magi," in which a poor, loving young husband and wife sell the only valuable things they own to give each other special Christmas gifts. Della Young sells her beautiful hair to buy Jim a platinum watch chain, and Jim sells his heirloom watch to buy Della some tortoiseshell hair combs. These gifts are useless, in one sense; Della cannot wear her combs without her hair, and Jim, without his watch, cannot use his watch chain.

But the narrator of the story points out that the Youngs possess a gift greater than any object: the gift of love. He compares them to the magi (the wise men who brought gifts to the baby Jesus in Bethlehem), saying: "let it be said that of all who give gifts these two were the...